25 September 2017 - In the ZONE

Monday, 18 September 2017
We finally got to go play board games as a district! After which one of our members named "Monkey Zhou" fed us some dinner. He really loves to interact with us missionaries. He is a convert of just about one year, and when they went to the temple this week he just couldn't stop laughing after he came out because he was "filled with the Spirit and really happy!"

Tuesday, 19 September 2017
We went up to Taizhong for interviews today, which was a really fun time! We didn't have to go to Yuanlin because President Teh figured out that we went through Taizhong anyways to get there. So that was good. It was a great start to the ending of training to get to talk to President Teh about how it went. Other than that, lots of lessons tonight.

Wednesday, 20 September 2017
We met with our friend Mrs. Xu, who READ THE BOOK OF MORMON. She even marked up the intro with notes to ask us about things. It was super cool to discuss it with her since she really seemed to have interest! And then tonight we met with a guy named Zhen, who wasn't very interested at first, but then Elder Hansen started explaining to him about the Savior and what He does for us, and he got riveted on the conversation. He even said "That's amazing!" So I'm super excited to work with him some more to help his faith grow!

Thursday, 21 September 2017
Yesterday a man contacted us on the street. His name was Yang, and he was in a wheel chair waiting outside a medical clinic. Elder Hansen talked to him first, and then he agreed to meet us the next day. He showed up, and we shared the Restoration with him, and he was super interested in coming to church and checking it out! Another little miracle!

Friday, 22 September 2017
We met with a man named Wang tonight who we've tried to set up with a few times with no luck. But we sat down and explained the Plan of Salvation with him, and he was really interested in knowing if this plan was true, because he is Christian and had never heard anything like that before. He was really interested and it was cool to see him commit to learning more about it!

Saturday, 23 September 2017
Today as we were preparing lessons we were praying about giving one of our investigators named Zheng a baptismal goal. Elder Hansen and I prayed together, and we both got a very strong answer that October 28 would be a great day for him to be baptized. It was incredible. Then he didn't show up. I was confused for a while, but later that night he called us and set up to meet late that night, which we did, and then extended the invite. He said he still doesn't know, but he is willing to read the Book of Mormon to get an answer. I won't see him though, because I also got a text tonight that I will be going to Gaoxiong as a zone leader! So I am a little cramped on time today.

Sunday, 24 September 2017
A great day, my last sacrament as a missionary in Puli. But it was amazing to feel the peace that came with knowing that this is God's call for me. I came to love this people so much, and now I must leave. It was most moving to see how sad some of them were to see me go as well. The miracle for today was probably that I didn't cry in public.

This work is true, and I can't wait to start this new phase of my service! I love you all so much, and know that our Savior lives!

-Elder Meanea

18 September 2017 - Miracles upon Miracles

Monday, 11 September 2017
A good P-day we finally went out of our area to do something. The Zone Leaders invited us and a few other missionaries to a buffet in their area since Elder Hansen had to do a language pass-off with them. So that was fun! And then that night we had a great lesson with a lady in a waffle stand who we've been trying to set up for two weeks now, and we finally got to share the Restoration, and she committed to read the Book of Mormon!

Tuesday, 12 September 2017
At the very end of a long day of contacting, we still hadn't found our new investigator for the day, so we hit the houses hard tracting the last 30 minutes of the night, and knocked into our new friend named Lian. He is super cool, a nice man who doesn't know why God would be important to him, but was willing to let us share a little bit about his Loving Heavenly Father. It is my favorite thing to share about God to those who don't know they can have a personal relationship with Him, and it makes me feel so happy to know that we can be tools in helping them to come to know Him.

Wednesday, 13 September 2017
A day full of awesome lessons. One of which is Mrs. Xu, a lady who runs a sushi stand near the high school in Puli. She is really willing to listen, and we got to sit down and share about the Book of Mormon for a few minutes. She was really happy to let us come and teach her. So she was our miracle for the day!

Thursday, 14 September 2017
Well, one of our investigators showed up for his lesson.... slightly inebriated. So he wasn't in the exact right mind to accept the baptismal invite we had planned for him, but he still dearly wants to understand the truth that is in the Gospel. And he didn't crash his bike leaving, so that was a miracle!

Friday, 15 September 2017
We had a very interesting lesson sitting down with a lady in a park this week. Elder Hansen found her last week and set her up, and then when we sat down with her today, we found out she is Christian, but hasn't felt close to God ever since her brother and father died at an early age. We prayed with her and she said that was the first time in a long time she's said a prayer. She wants to come back to church, but it's just hard for her, so we shared about the Savior and how he understood everything that we've gone through. There is so much truth in this Gospel that people don't know, and I just want to share it with them! Then that night we were spending a few final minutes tracting and ran into this really quiet man named Tang. He let us into his house for a few minutes and we talked about God, because everyone needs to realize He loves them! He said he had a desire to get to know God, but didn't know how. So he agreed to let us help him.

Saturday, 16 September 2017
We found Liu and his buddy today. They are some high school kids who have gone to a few Christian churches and have a testimony that Jesus exists, and they really liked talking to us about Him. It's cool to see the testimony they already have and help them add to it. They agreed to meet again later so we could share more about how the Book of Mormon can help them get closer to God.

Sunday, 17 September 2017
A great sabbath, and the greatest part was that Elder Hansen and I got to give a few blessings today to some members in need. Elder Hansen told me today that he has never loved a calling more than this one, and it's amazing to think all Heavenly Father needs us to do. I'm humbled every day thinking of how sacred this responsibility is. I love being a missionary and serving God's Children! I love you all so much family and friends. I hope you have a great week!

-Elder Meanea

11 September 2017 -The People Be Coming!

*Insert Patriotic American song all of which I've forgotten because I eat with Chopsticks*

Monday, 4 September 2017
A fun P-Day in which I can't exactly remember what we did, but that's okay. Most of our lessons fell through that night, but we found a house where a bunch of people from Vietnam lived. Neither of us could communicate very well, but we showed them pictures of Jesus in the Book of Mormon and bore our testimonies, and so they agreed to take it and read it! We had a copy in Vietnamese that we gave to them, so that was a cool little miracle!

Tuesday, 5 September 2017
Most miracles this week center around people, which is great. We met with our friend Xu at the basketball courts here in town, and he said that he has always wanted to meet with missionaries, but has just been too busy to ever sit down with them. Now he has his own job and own time and is willing to listen. So he is super cool! He works at the hospital and wants to find out what our church is all about. I'm super excited to teach him. 

Wednesday, 6 September 2017
We met a lady in the market last week who said we can come and visit, Mrs. Wang. We went over and found out that she was the sister's investigator from about 2 months ago. They said at the time she didn't really have interest in learning about the message, but when we went she asked us to teach her how to pray, and has always wanted to learn from missionaries because before an Elder told her that "She just needs to smile!" And it helped her come out of depression of a few years. So there's another prepared soul that God wants us to bring to the fold.

Thursday, 7 September 2017
On Elder Hansen's first week here, we met a man named Chen in a little neighborhood that we got to sit down with twice before he went out of town until this week. We went to see him tonight, and he welcomed us back into his home. He was still very interested in learning about the Book of Mormon because the rest of his family is Christian, and said he was willing to start reading and studying to learn if it was true. I say it was a miracle because we thought we lost him, but God brought him back to us!

Friday, 8 September 2017
We found a cool place to tract where all the houses are orange and some are abandoned, and it's really quiet, so we call it the "Orange Ghost" neighborhood. We tracted there for a bit, but tonight one of our members asked us to come and help teach the Plan of Salvation for the night seminary class at our chapel. It was so cool to discuss it and watch Elder Hansen bear testimony of how the Plan of Salvation has touched his life, and get to discuss a little bit with the awesome youth in our ward what it means to them.

Saturday, 9 September 2017
Elder Hansen is on point. Tonight we were contacting in the street, and he stopped a lady who looked like she was homeless, and they started talking about church, and it turns out she has been to our church before and really wants to read the Book of Mormon, but every time she gets one it gets ruined. So we sat down with her and shared with her and found out she is just traveling Taiwan by herself right now because she lost her job. We really felt the Spirit as we shared about how God really loves us, and wants us to be happy in this life and forever. We won't be able to meet again because she's still just traveling, but we got her a Book of Mormon and sent her on her way. I think we did something that God really needed us to that night. 

Sunday, 10 September 2017
Darn investigators didn't show up at church, but tonight we had a lesson with Mr. Tong. He is the most Golden person I have ever met. He has had a hard life with divorce, and doesn't feel anything from practicing his current religion, and a friend told him he needs to check out Christianity, so he has been looking for 4 years to find a church that really will meet his needs. He came to the right place and we shared the Restoration with him, and he was really excited and set up to meet again the next day! So it was a great end to the week. 

I know God truly watches over all of us. And everything we need to be happy in life is already here for us. The Atonement of Christ isn't just a crutch for bad times, it is the power that should carry us through every day of our lives. And I'm coming to learn that in a very personal way. I love you all and hope you can always feel God's love for you. I know it's real. And I love you all as well!

-Elder Meanea

4 September 2017 - A LOVEly Week

"I feel the Savior's Love, for all the ones around me, His spirit lifts my soul, to serve all those I see!"
(Copyright Elder Meanea 2017)

Monday, 28 August 2017
The board game shop was closed, but you can always count on the Puli Elders to think up a backup-plan. We played tellestrations for P-Day, and I have to say that it is one of the most laughable things I've ever done. That night we had a few lessons set up, but they all fell through, so we were on the streets and as usual, and as always there were people waiting for us to meet them! It just takes a little faith.

Tuesday, 29 August 2017
Oaker Song. Sounds like a TV show character, but he is actually an investigator that we finally got to meet with today! He is super cool, and we shared about the Restoration. He literally began the lesson by saying, "I love Jesus, but I don't know what church is His and which I should go to." Elder Hansen and I looked at each other and thought, "Well, do we have a story for you!" He took it pretty well, and from when we had met him he already read the introduction to the Book of Mormon and the Testimony of the Witnesses. It is so cool to see how prepared people are waiting for us wherever we go to find them.

Wednesday, 30 August 2017
We slogged all through the day with only 3 people adding to meet, but our goal was 4. A little resigned at 8:55, Elder Hansen and I headed back to the apartment, only to get a call from a contact that he wanted to meet right then! We went and met (which was the 4th add we needed) and he was a super cool Christian that was really interested in learning about the Book of Mormon. Thumbs up for last second miracles!

Thursday, 31 August 2017
We went on exchanges today and I went over to Caotun while Elder Hansen stayed in Puli to work. Mine went pretty well, but Elder Hansen ran the area perfectly while I was gone! Not to say that was a miracle, I had complete faith in him, but it was cool to see him do it by himself. They also met with one of our investigators named Lian who said he knew the Book of Mormon was true! I'm so excited for him! He is moving right now, so he's not in Puli right now, but he is so amazing and I can't wait to teach him when he gets back!

Friday, 1 September 2017
A contact we met named Mrs. Liu was super cool tonight! We sat down in a 7-11 to teach her, and got as far as the 4th paragraph in the introduction before she interrupted and said she didn't believe in resurrection and didn't want it because she didn't want her enemies to live again. I tried reasoning with her and telling her about some bible scriptures that talked about Resurrection, but she wasn't having it. Elder Hansen was being a little more in tune and just insisted we keep reading from the Book of Mormon together, which brought the Spirit back in and helped her to calm down, and she agreed to pray about it when she went home that night. I'm so grateful for Elder Hansen and his discernment!

Saturday, 2 September 2017
The hard work today paid off in 7 people setting up to meet with us today! Woohoo! We also spent a good amount of the day ensuring that a lot of investigators would come to church tomorrow, because if we are going to baptize them this transfer, they have to start coming tomorrow. So we set 3 people up to come and had a great night of contacting!

Sunday, 3 September 2017
So, nobody came to church, which makes our goal a little bit harder to reach of baptizing 3 people this transfer. But right after church one of our contacts named Kobe called us and said he wanted to meet. We ran over there and sat down with him. He was really cool and wanted to understand our religion because he has a friend from our ward that goes to school with him. It was super cool! And then tonight we were tracting for the last hours of the week still 2 investigators away from getting our goal of 7, when we knocked on the door of a nice older couple who had met missionaries before and let us in to share. They said we could come back and check on them tonight and talk a little bit more about the Plan of Salvation, another last minute miracle!

The work is great, I love it. Truly I wouldn't rather be anywhere else. The Savior loves us all, and I know that He wants us to love like He did in all things. I love you all so much family!

-Elder Meanea

28 August 2017 - TRI Force

"Book of Mormon Power, keeps me safe from sin,

Book of Mormon Power is the power to win!
Book of Mormon Power, every day they need
The tool to help them plant the faithy seed!"
(Elder Meanea Copyright 2017)

Monday, 21 August 2017
Miracles begin as we start a week as a tri-panionship! We had a fun time playing at a board game shop for P-Day, and then went up to one of our member friends house to share a little bit with him. I would say the miracle today was to see Elder Hansen's love for him as we shared. It didn't matter that we aren't trying to get him baptized, when he bore his testimony, the Spirit immediately came in and you could tell that he really was trying to receive revelation for him to help him feel God's love. It's amazing to see him work so hard. 

Tuesday, 22 August 2017
We were a little bit gummed up this week and couldn't meet with this investigator called Marilyn that we met last week, so we gave her to the sisters and they visited her today. She accepted the Restoration super well and believes it! I'm so excited for them and the growth they'll get to continue to see in her. 

Wednesday, 23 August 2017
Biggest up today? We had 8 lessons scheduled. Let down? 6 of them stood us up. But even with all the things that fell through this week, both of my companions are still fireballs. I can't believe how brave Elder Hong was. I couldn't imagine doing half the things that he did when I just got in the field, and he's never been a missionary before. It was great to work so hard with him and Elder Hansen, and you can really feel their faith in their undying optimism. They were my miracle today!

Thursday, 24 August 2017
A member invited us to eat with her today and she brought her husband! Her husband is less active, but very willing to come and meet with us and listen to the Gospel. It is great to see him around, which I think lead to on Sunday him going with his wife to a stake conference activity in Yuanlin, so that's great! Then, the very last door of the night we knocked and a man answered. His name is Song, and at first he was not very willing to talk to us, but we began sharing about the Book of Mormon and he asked for one on the spot and asked what he could do to learn more! I think he knows how to make missionaries happy. We'll be meeting with him this week! 

Friday, 25 August 2017
A day full of hard work. Again, there wasn't much to report from today except that we worked very hard and I feel like the Lord was pleased with us, even though maybe we didn't find many people today. The miracle was undying faith of my companions! They are so great and we had a blast being out and talking to as many people as possible!

Saturday, 26 August 2017
Another day of hitting the roads looking for prepared souls. We found a few that night which was great, and Elder Hong did a great job on his last day. The entire week here we never had to wait for him or ask him to keep up or keep working. He is so ready to get out in the mission field. I'm excited to see what he does. 

Sunday, 27 August 2017
Great meetings and our friend Huang Shun Ting came again! That was his second time at church, and the sacrament was really great, I think he enjoyed it. And then that night we were out contacting after we sent Elder Hong home, and without any help of mine, Elder Hansen set up two people on the streets. All by himself. No Chinese help or anything. He is such an inspiration of what a hard working consecrated missionary is, and I'm so proud to be his companion, but only a fool would think I was actually training him. 

A hard working week, not a lot to report, but the Lord has not held back His Arm from us and helping guide our work. I know in every part of our lives He will bless and prosper us as we hearken to Him. I love you all and I love the Savior!

-Elder Meanea

21 August 2017 - Week of Miracles

"There can be baptisms! When you believe."
(Copyright Elder Meanea 2017, I know it isn't a hymn, but close enough)

Monday, 14 August 2017
The week of miracles began early as we pulled over to talk to "just some guy" at a convenience store on P-Day. We sat down with him, His name is Huang Shun Ting, and we taught him the full first lesson right there and set up to meet the next day. That was so cool! And just because we kept looking. It was a great start to our week of miracles. 

Tuesday, 15 August 2017
Our miracle today also came from the streets as we stopped to talk to a lady cutting potatoes. Or... something that might have once been a potato. I don't know for sure. But she was really receptive to having us come and share about the Gospel. Her name was Mrs. Wu. She has a 14 year old son who likes learning about Jesus, and they invited us to come visit them.

Wednesday, 16 August 2017
Wednesday miracle was that I made it through another round at Tang Mama's. Man does that lady know how to cook! It was amazing. We had tacos and peanut butter chocolate cake. One of my new favorites. And our Recent Convert Sister Chen was there as well. And she's been continually reading the Book of Mormon, which is one of the biggest miracles of all. Because I know that the Book of Mormon can keep anyone close to Christ for as long as they are willing to continue reading it, and every time we get just a little bit closer. I love the Book of Mormon, and it is a part of a few other miracles this week!

Thursday, 17 August 2017
Which was today. On Tuesday we met with Huang and he hadn't read what we asked him to. So we postponed Plan of Salvation and read with him for a few minutes. We thought it went alright, then we came for our lesson today and he read! He read all that we asked him to. And then we taught the Plan of Salvation and the Spirit was so strong. And at the end when we invited him to Church he said yes before we could even finish. He is a 50 year old man whose kids live outside of Puli now, and he has been a widower since the big earthquake about 20 years ago. It is amazing to just feel how ready he is to accept this Gospel.

Friday, 18 August 2017
Today's miracle comes from the Banana man. He is an investigator we found about 2 weeks ago. He was a little weird, but we stopped by to visit him and he let us in. And he was very interested about our religion. We taught him about his Heavenly Father, and at the end of the lesson, we invited him to kneel and pray with us, which he did. And the Spirit was so amazing there. It was so great to see him really feel that praying to his Heavenly Father is a real experience. And his name is Gan, by the way. Not just Banana man. That'd be an interesting invite. "Banana Man, are you willing to be baptized by one holding proper authority..."

Saturday, 19 August 2017
We hit the streets hard today. Both Elder Hansen and I got exhausted by the end. But the end of the day brought two great miracles. We ran into a lady tracting who let us in, and we shared about eternal family's, and she agreed to meet again this week, and she said it was basically destiny, because usually her old mom is home who is super traditional, but she was gone at the very moment we knocked! GOD IS PREPARING HIS CHILDREN. And then we knocked a door nearby and found a Philipeno lady who only speaks English, so that was a bit of a new experience! She is Catholic and was willing to listen to a message about Jesus. It was a great night. 

Sunday, 20 August 2017
Huang came to church today! He came for Sacrament and I think he really liked it. We are going to work on getting him progressing towards baptism this week, so I'm really excited for him! And we also got a Duanchuan (short term missionary) this week! His name is Hong Zi Ting from Zhang Hua. He is super cool and I'm excited to see some miracles with him this week!

That is truly just a portion of the ways I see God's Hand move in my life every day. I love the Gospel and I love sharing it. And I love you all! I wish you all a Spirit filled week of amazingness!

-Elder Meanea

14 August 2017 - Season Two of Training!

Once there was a Taiwan Taiwan Taiwan, once there was a Taiwan, HOT HOT HOT!

Monday, 7 August 2017
After our illustrious P-Day we had a really good night of working hard and just running into a ton of cool people. I can't say enough about how Elder Hansen's faith pushes me to keep going, even when I'm tired and things aren't exactly turning out like they are supposed to. He really reminds me that we have the Savior's commission to "Find the lambs, feed the sheep." It helps me remember where to turn when things don't go well, when people say no, and when you need to know exactly what to say.


Tuesday, 8 August 2017
We had Elder Hansen's first pass off for Phase one. It's just a program where the trainees have to teach a lesson by themselves without my help, and he did great. He taught Sister Jones who pretended to be an investigator and Elder Hansen taught. Then that night we went on another mountain adventure to find a college where a student from Hong Kong wants to be taught the gospel. It turns out all we had was an English name and the address of the college, so we're going to have to try again some time, but I love seeing mission work going on all over the world!

Wednesday, 9 August 2017
Mostly a finding day. We had a lot of interesting lessons with some interesting people, but it's really interesting to see how those who are prepared always have these certain qualities, like being willing to act on the message when they hear it. I love how often the Spirit is willing to work with us to tell us what people need to hear.


Thursday, 10 August 2017
We were going to have a lesson with a kid named Huang who we met fishing the other day, so we went there, waited for him, and then he didn't show. We were about to leave when an older guy walked up to us and asked if we were the missionaries. We said yes, and he said he was named Huang, which was good enough for me. He told us that he wasn't feeling well and that he met Elders before who gave him a blessing. And he asked us to give him one, so we did, and he started making really weird noises during it, which freaked us both out really bad. Afterwards he was normal though and said he felt a lot better... so it was good? We biked away really fast. But it was fun!

Friday, 11 August 2017
Again, lots of contacting, but today was cool because we had a lesson with Jerry! We found him on the street the other day and he set up to meet. He is super cool, a little wordly, but he has a real desire to change, and agreed to come to Church on Sunday! Otherwise just weekly planning. Originally we were going to Taichung for trainer follow up meeting, but it got cancelled, so a lot of finding time!!! We actually get a fair amount of adds each day, which is really encouraging.


Saturday, 12 August 2017
Super weird day. I got a text from a former investigator, the drunk baseball guy, and it said it was his sister, and that he passed away last week. I was pretty sad, but they invited us to the funeral this morning, so we went. It's amazing to see how sad funerals are when they aren't backgrounded against the plan of salvation. It gave me a huge desire to help everyone in the world understand this plan, if only for the reason of lessening a little bit of heartache. We also had a ward music night which one of our investigators came to! His name is Chen, and he recorded us missionaries singing as we were dressed up like angels. (Member's idea) Hopefully those get deleted some day.

Sunday, 13 August 2017
A great Sabbath. Jerry came for the last two hours, and really liked it! After church we met with him, and he agreed to a baptismal date! He really wants the Gospel to give him a new start on life. He is truly one of those prepared people we are searching for. Then tonight we gave a blessing to a sick member, and visited a part member family. Those both went okay, but we were exhausted by the time we finally made it home. It was a good close to a good week.

I've been thinking a lot about miracles, and I'm pretty sure we've seen one every day this week. So next week in my letter I'll let you know about all the miracles that we see every day, and I would hope it would help us all look for the miracles in our everyday lives. Because God is a God of miracles, and He is always on our side. I love you all so much, and pray the Spirit will help you feel God's love as well.

-Elder Meanea